The lawmakers say police check points
should be mounted to check crime in Nigeria.
A member of
the House of Representative,
Godfrey Gaiya (PDP-Kaduna), on Thursday suggested the return of mobile police
check points to deter criminals, especially in flash points around the country.
“The road
blocks are more desirable now than ever; they should be stationed after every
kilometre in the flash points,” he said.
The lawmaker
said in Jos that “their mere presence is enough to scare many criminals”.
The check points,
hitherto a common feature on Nigerian roads, were removed following massive
complaints of alleged unwholesome activities of some police officers manning
them.
Mr. Gaiya said
that such complaints were nothing compared to the usefulness of the road blocks
to the Nigerian society.
“The police
force should have an internal mechanism for punishing such unwholesome
attitude; certainly, such unethical attitude by a few is not enough to deny
Nigerians the desirability of the policemen on the highways,” he said.
He blamed the
massive insecurity on the absence of the police on the roads and decried a
situation where criminals could travel very long distances without being
accosted with their loots or illegal arms.
Mr. Gaiya said
Nigeria was battling with all manners of violence when other nations were
making progress in various fields. He added that the road blocks constituted
some proactive measures instead of the current fire brigade scenarios after
incidents.
He also
lamented that while other nations were progressing, Nigeria was reclining back
to the dark days “when good neighbours were becoming sworn enemies while good
relationships were being replaced with deep hatred”.
The lawmaker
also suggested a closer monitoring of sermons delivered by some clergies,
adding that many had continued to preach hatred among Nigerians.
“The nation’s
constitution allows for freedom of speech and worship, but we have continued to
abuse that; the Imam or Pastors keep preaching that our neighbours are our
enemies. We all hear these messages and keep quiet.
“Politicians
also take advantage of such differences and exploit them for their selfish
gains, but we just pretend until the worse happens. This is not good. We must
know that democracy is not madness,’’ he said.
Mr. Gaiya also
commented on the incessant clashes between suspected herdsmen and communities
in his Southern Kaduna constituency, blaming the situation on struggle for the
limited fertile land available for pasture and farming.
“We have
visited Attakar Village where these clashes take place and we have found that
the fight is over the land there which is very fertile.
“The Fulani
want the land because it is safe from tsetse flies and thieves cannot steal
from there since the cows are up the hills, but the farmers also need to farm
since it is the raining season.
“The land is
particularly attractive for the kind of crops cultivated in the area because
not much fertiliser is required.
“We have
spoken with leaders of the Attakar community and they say they have no problems
hosting the Fulani. They merely want the herdsmen to respect them and also know
their limits.
“They also
want the cows to draw a line between the grass and the crops. Once they can
agree on that, there will be no clash,’’ he said.
Mr. Gaiya said
the clashes could be avoided if government copied the examples of nations like
Kenya, Swaziland and South Africa, where cows are kept
in Ranches.
“When the cows
are kept in such ranches, they are confined to one place, but we allow our cows
to roam from Sokoto to Enugu.
“These
countries that have established the ranches do not have half the resources at
Nigeria’s disposal, yet they have been able to settle the Fulanis and their cows
and have no clashes. We must do same,” he said.
He also called
for special reserves for grazing to minimise the search for such fields by the
herdsmen. The lawmaker called for more intelligence gathering to help the
security agencies to address possible causes of violence long before they
snowball into crises.
“The crises do
not happen simultaneously. The arms amassment is not done in one day. We have
to be more proactive,” he said.
He cautioned
against using bad tactics, like violence, to seek attention of the Federal
Government, noting that most militant groups had continued to use that to get
amnesty, compensation and monetary rewards from government.
“When we
encourage that, the nation shall be the worse for it because hitherto peace
individuals and groups may get the wrong signals and begin to act the same
way,” he said.
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